Consider the following statements:

In India, there is no common central law that criminalises actions furthering the belief in witchcraft.

Bihar became the first state to introduce Prevention of Witch Practices Act, 1999 on the matter.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Question

In India, there is no common central law that criminalises actions furthering the belief in witchcraft, but state laws do exist.
Maharashtra and Karnataka have Acts related to black magic and superstition, but they do not mention witchcraft in particular.
Bihar became the first state to introduce Prevention of Witch Practices Act, 1999 on the matter. Along the lines of the Bihar law, the newly independent state of Jharkhand came up with its own law in 2001.
The Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Adhiniyam came into force in 2005, where ‘Tonahi’ is another word for witch.
In Odisha, the 2013 law intended to “provide for effective measures to tackle the menace of witch hunting”.
The Rajasthan Prevention of Witch Hunting Act, 2015, had some similar provisions as the previous laws.
Assam built on the previous laws, in 2018, created more specific provisions and increased the levels of fines and punishment. It also mandated the right to free legal service aid for the victim.
In 2016, The Prevention of Witch-hunting Bill, 2016, was introduced in the Lok Sabha. However, it did not go through further stages of consideration in Parliament.

GKToday Admin · Accepted Answer

Both 1 & 2

In India, there is no common central law that criminalises actions furthering the belief in witchcraft, but state laws do exist.
Maharashtra and Karnataka have Acts related to black magic and superstition, but they do not mention witchcraft in particular.
Bihar became the first state to introduce Prevention of Witch Practices Act, 1999 on the matter. Along the lines of the Bihar law, the newly independent state of Jharkhand came up with its own law in 2001.
The Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Adhiniyam came into force in 2005, where ‘Tonahi’ is another word for witch.
In Odisha, the 2013 law intended to “provide for effective measures to tackle the menace of witch hunting”.
The Rajasthan Prevention of Witch Hunting Act, 2015, had some similar provisions as the previous laws.
Assam built on the previous laws, in 2018, created more specific provisions and increased the levels of fines and punishment. It also mandated the right to free legal service aid for the victim.
In 2016, The Prevention of Witch-hunting Bill, 2016, was introduced in the Lok Sabha. However, it did not go through further stages of consideration in Parliament.

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